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"The Lithuanian community, scattered throughout Eastern Massachusetts, is irate that O'Malley plans to close the South Boston church, which they say is an important spiritual and cultural center for several generations of immigrants. Some of those parishioners are descendants of people who fled famine in Lithuania in the late 19th century, others fled Soviet persecution after World War I and World War II, and still others have come recently, seeking economic opportunity since the collapse of the Soviet Union."

''A lot of parishioners here have experienced the persecution of their faith and they make a lot of analogies," said the Rev. Stephen P. Zukas, pastor of St. Peter. "The Soviets made them transit to America, and now they're seeing their churches close again."

It is very telling.

Archbishop O'Malley is meant to be the Chief Shepherd in the Archdiocese of Boston but distances himself from the whole process by sending surrogates such as Heck or issuing statements via Fr Coyne. But when he came face to face with the reality of a parish closure, the Shepherd fled.